Photo by Patrick Schöpflin on Unsplash
There has been talk of a recession coming and now we are starting to see the first signs. HP and WeWork announced thousands of employee eliminations as both companies struggle to realign and meet market expectations. Will this trend continue or was it specific to each company and their ongoing operational problems?
Facebook’s “cryptocurrency” Libra lost a major partner in PayPal and is coming under fire from Apple CEO Tim Cook. The company is also developing strategies should Elizabeth Warren take the White House and push for the company to break up.
Acquisitions/Investments
- Verizon is buying virtual reality company Jaunt
Verizon has acquired some assets of virtual reality video start-up Jaunt XR, the company announced Monday. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.
As part of the deal, Verizon will own Jaunt’s software and technology, among other assets.
The company, which was founded in 2013, established a foothold in virtual reality technology, developing hardware, software, tools and apps that enable brands and consumers to make high-quality VR content. Jaunt later launched a Netflix-style content library for VR headsets, before announcing in 2018 it would transition to augmented reality technology. The company has raised about $100 million in funding from Disney, Google’s venture arm GV and Redpoint Ventures, among others, and made the CNBC Disruptor List for 2017.
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/09/30/verizon-is-buying-virtual-reality-company-jaunt.html
- Apple May Have Acquired Motion Capture Company IKinema
Apple may have recently acquired UK-based motion capture company IKinema, based on evidence from company filings and information shared by a MacRumors reader.
IKinema offers animation technology that’s used for games, virtual reality, and more. Earlier this year, for example, IKinema partnered with Ubisoft for IKinema’s RunTime software for character creation. IKinema specialized in technology that allowed for real-time motion animation of virtual characters.
https://www.macrumors.com/2019/10/03/apple-acquisition-ikinema/
Cloud
- Inside Microsoft and Google Cloud’s battle for the enterprise
Behind the scenes, however, Microsoft has made some not-so-subtle changes to their licensing that make it more expensive for organizations to transfer their on-premise Microsoft solutions to any cloud that doesn’t belong to Microsoft. In other words, Microsoft is sending a clear message that it wants you running your workloads on Azure. This type of behavior is not new for Microsoft.
Cost reductions sound great but there is a large asterisk next to that cost reduction potential; you have to use Microsoft’s cloud. If you choose a competitor’s cloud, such as Amazon Web Services (AWS) or Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Microsoft is going to hit you with increased fees. In reality, this is really just a penalty for engaging with Microsoft’s competition.
Security/Privacy
- The lack of cybersecurity talent is ‘a national security threat,’ says DHS official
“It’s a national security risk that we don’t have the talent regardless of whether it’s in the government or the private sector,” said Manfra. “We have a massive shortage that is expected that will grow larger.”
Homeland Security is already responding, working on developing curriculum for potential developers as soon as they hit the school system. “We spend a lot of time invested in K-12 curriculum,” she said.
The agency is also looking to take a page from the the tech industry’s playbook and developing a new workforce training program that’s modeled after how to recruit and retain individuals.
https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/03/lack-cybersecurity-professionals-threat-dhs/
Looks like they are stealing a page from Israel. - Google Draws House Antitrust Scrutiny of Internet Protocol
The new standard would encrypt internet traffic to improve security, which could help prevent hackers from snooping on websites, and from spoofing—faking an internet website to obtain a consumer’s credit-card information or other data.
But the new standard could alter the internet’s competitive landscape, cable and wireless companies said. They fear being shut out from much of user data if browser users move wholesale to this new standard, which many internet service providers don’t currently support. Service providers also worry that Google may compel its Chrome browser users to switch to Google services that support the protocol, something Google said it has no intention of doing.
“Right now, each internet service provider has insight into the traffic of their users, and that’s going to shift” as a result of the change, said Andy Ellis, chief security officer at Akamai Technologies Inc., which provides internet services to corporations but doesn’t support the new standard.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-draws-house-antitrust-scrutiny-of-internet-protocol-11569765637
Software/SaaS
- Zuckerberg Hates Warren’s Plan to Break Up Facebook. She Doesn’t Care.
“If she gets elected president, then I would bet that we will have a legal challenge, and I would bet that we will win the legal challenge,” he said.
“Does that still suck for us? Yeah. I mean, I don’t want to have a major lawsuit against our own government. That’s not like the position you want to be in. We care about our country and want to work with our government to do good things,” he added. “But look, at the end of the day, if someone’s going to try to threaten something that existential, you go to the mat and you fight.”
Shortly after The Verge published Mr. Zuckerberg’s remarks, Ms. Warren responded by renewing her criticism of Facebook.
“What would really ‘suck,’” she said, mimicking Mr. Zuckerberg’s language, “is if we don’t fix a corrupt system that lets giant companies like Facebook engage in illegal anticompetitive practices, stomp on consumer privacy rights, and repeatedly fumble their responsibility to protect our democracy.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/01/us/politics/elizabeth-warren-mark-zuckerberg-facebook.html
- Apple CEO Tim Cook slams Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency as a power grab
Speaking with the French newspaper Les Echos, Cook shot down any notion that Apple might be considering launching a digital currency of its own, given its recent investments in digital wallets, mobile payments, and consumer credit with the new Goldman Sachs-backed Apple Card.
“No. I really think that a currency should stay in the hands of countries. I’m not comfortable with the idea of a private group setting up a competing currency,” Cook told the publication in an interview published today. “A private company shouldn’t be looking to gain power this way.”
https://www.theverge.com/2019/10/4/20899271/apple-ceo-tim-cook-facebook-libra-cryptocurrency-criticism-power-grab
PayPal is the first company to drop out of the Facebook-led Libra AssociationA high-profile, would-be partner like PayPal backing out from the effort before it’s even gotten off the ground is a big blow to Facebook and the Libra Association, which has been struggling under the weight of speculation that some of the big organizations, initially interested in collaborating on Libra, are now on the fence about the project, put off by wave of negative reaction from regulators and others that might lead to problems launching and ultimately growing the service.
Other
- WeWork expected to announce major layoffs
WeWork, the co-working business once valued at $47 billion, is expected to announce significant layoffs this month, Bloomberg reports. This follows reports the company was looking to slash as many as 5,000 roles, or one-third of its workforce.
Now expected to go public in 2020 at a valuation as low as $10 billion, WeWork is also in negotiations with JPMorgan for a last-minute cash infusion to replace the capital expected from the now-postponed IPO, per reports. The company, now a cautionary tale, has been working with bankers in recent weeks to reduce the sky-high costs of its money-losing operation.
- HP to Cut Up to 9,000 Jobs in New CEO’s Restructuring Plan
HP Thursday said it could eliminate 7,000 to 9,000 jobs from its roughly 55,000 workforce over the next three years. The cuts, once completed, should yield annual savings of about $1 billion, the company said at its annual securities-analyst meeting. HP is nearing the end of a three-year-old layoff plan that could eliminate up to 5,000 jobs.
HP has been under pressure in recent quarters from a decline in the printing-supplies business that was once its biggest moneymaker. To help reinject growth, it plans to offer new ways to sell its products.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/hp-to-cut-up-to-9-000-jobs-in-new-ceos-restructuring-plan-11570143485
- Kroger will lay off hundreds of employees as online competition from Amazon bites
Currently the grocer has 443,000 full-time and part-time employees across all of the chains it owns, including Kroger-branded stores, and Harris Teeter, Ralphs, and Fred Meyer stores. As for what roles the layoffs will hit the hardest, a Kroger spokesperson told CNBC that middle management roles were one of the ones being evaluated:
As part of ongoing talent management, many store operating divisions are evaluating middle management roles and team structures with an eye toward keeping resources close to the customer.
- Salesforce is building an office tower in Sydney, pledging 1,000 new jobs in the next five years
Salesforce announced this week that it’s building another shiny tower. This one will be in Sydney with views of the harbor and the iconic Sydney Opera House. The company has also committed to adding 1,000 new jobs in the next five years and to building the tower in a sustainable fashion.
As is Salesforce’s way, it’s going to be the tallest building in the city when it’s done, and will sit in the Circular Quay, part of the central business district in the city, and will house shops and restaurants on the main floor. As with all of its modern towers, it’s going to dedicate the top floor to allow for flexible use for employees, customers and partners. The building will also boast a variety of spaces including a Salesforce Innovation Center for customers along with social lounges, mindfulness areas and a variety of spaces for employees to collaborate.
- How Tim Cook Won Donald Trump’s Ear
Such engagement has proved risky for other chief executives. Facing public pressure, Under Armour Inc. ’s Kevin Plank, Tesla Inc. ’s Elon Musk and Uber Technologies Inc. ’s Travis Kalanick resigned from presidential advisory councils over disagreements with the administration. A similar resignation by Merck & Co. CEO Kenneth Frazier, who publicly criticized the president’s handling of violence in Charlottesville, Va., led Mr. Trump to unleash a barrage of tweets castigating the drugmaker for high prices.
“There are only a handful [of executives] who have been able to thread the needle,” said Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, a Yale University management professor who has informally advised Mr. Trump over the years before he became president. “This is a newfound capability for Apple. Steve Jobs didn’t have influence in Washington, and Tim Cook has offered it.” He added that Mr. Trump’s volatility means the relationship with Mr. Cook could change, but that was unlikely in the near term.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-tim-cook-won-donald-trumps-ear-11570248040